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BigmanPigman

(51,432 posts)
16. I took my 1st graders to every election in our school
Sun Oct 25, 2020, 10:30 PM
Oct 2020

for over 15 years. I started doing it with my 6th graders and continued when I went to 1st Grade. I taught them how to vote anonymously, with privacy board (partitions between students...no peeking) and how to tally the votes...Math, Reading and Writing as well as Civics in one lesson.

They would go into the polls (individual, standing platforms with privacy boards) behind the cafeteria. The poll workers always gave me a sheet of I VOTED stickers in several languages which I used throughout the school year. The poll workers loved giving my class a mini voting lesson. "Aren't they cute" was all I heard from those who were voting as my students sat quietly on the floor, watching in awe.

They chose what topics to vote for, the choices and they did all the passing out, collecting the anonymous pieces of paper from the kids and reading and tallying them on the white board. The students couldn't cheer...silence was mandatory until the final tally. Then they got stickers. I still have them from 2012.

They voted for what game to play during Rainy Day Recess, what film to watch, what type of party to have, etc. I hope they remember these lessons as they grew up.

And I remember exit polls being correct about 99% of the time, until Eliot Rosewater Oct 2020 #1
Dukmejian & Bradley Algernon Moncrieff Oct 2020 #35
By age 12 I understood you could go to sleep knowing exit polls would accurately predict winner lostnfound Oct 2020 #48
Yes mercuryblues Oct 2020 #2
I kind of remember that too. nt Quixote1818 Oct 2020 #4
NJ now moved polling places out of schools to prevent people from just walking into them. TheBlackAdder Oct 2020 #37
Here in RI/MA, schools are still used as polling locations, Totally Tunsie Oct 2020 #41
The dismantling of our democracy began shortly thereafter with saint ronny PSPS Oct 2020 #3
This!👆 SheltieLover Oct 2020 #5
This is the truth. I'm 61. My entire adult life has been spent watching Progressive Jones Oct 2020 #27
What you state is all too true PufPuf23 Oct 2020 #28
+1 Disturbing to see pieces lately painting Reagan in a better light. appalachiablue Oct 2020 #39
That parallels my experience misanthrope Oct 2020 #6
We've come a LONG way since then!!! ret5hd Oct 2020 #7
Piece of cake! Easy as pie! Quixote1818 Oct 2020 #14
You don't mention where this was... brooklynite Oct 2020 #8
Las Cruces, New Mexico mid to late 70s. nt Quixote1818 Oct 2020 #10
In my county... LiberalFighter Oct 2020 #26
I've never heard the wealthy complain about this. And there are reasons Guy Whitey Corngood Oct 2020 #40
In the 70s I was a college student (and a Ward Committeeman) brooklynite Oct 2020 #46
Zip code. And the person you replied to, specifically said Guy Whitey Corngood Oct 2020 #47
Again. My experiences today have nothing to do with wealth... brooklynite Oct 2020 #49
Yes, looks like the machine I first voted on. sinkingfeeling Oct 2020 #9
I remember my dad taking me behind the curtain while he voted Awsi Dooger Oct 2020 #11
Remember all of the above soothsayer Oct 2020 #12
That's how I first voted. BainsBane Oct 2020 #13
We learned to vote on those big machines in elementary school. Liberal In Texas Oct 2020 #15
I took my 1st graders to every election in our school BigmanPigman Oct 2020 #16
How wonderful. Thanks for sharing your story. gristy Oct 2020 #22
I learned a lot from them too. BigmanPigman Oct 2020 #24
The '70s was a time before the GOP went fascist. Sneederbunk Oct 2020 #17
In 1976, the American population was 218M Sogo Oct 2020 #18
Cast my first votes on those in the 80's bottomofthehill Oct 2020 #19
I loved those voting machines. There was... 3catwoman3 Oct 2020 #20
I remember when our county stopped using those machines csziggy Oct 2020 #21
In Bexar County, Texas our Elections Administrator is hired, not elected LeftInTX Oct 2020 #50
Since our county if very blue, it has not been a problem csziggy Oct 2020 #53
So I assume it is a non-partisan position? LeftInTX Oct 2020 #60
About 20-30 they made all the county level positions "non-partisan" csziggy Oct 2020 #62
They were required to be retired by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 -- Congress' fault Klaralven Oct 2020 #23
And it went fast Generic Brad Oct 2020 #25
A few years ago each precinct had its own voting place now we have four doc03 Oct 2020 #29
I think it might have still happened like the Literacy tests in the 60s and before JI7 Oct 2020 #30
I first voted on those lever machines too frazzled Oct 2020 #31
I grew up in Oregon. In school on election days they would tell us to be very quiet. Olafjoy Oct 2020 #32
Our schools are closed on Election Day to allow for the availability Totally Tunsie Oct 2020 #38
In the late 70's/early 80s, I worked for a moving and storage company in Chicago that Progressive Jones Oct 2020 #33
I remember going to vote with my parents MyMission Oct 2020 #34
In the 1970s there was little or no early voting. PoindexterOglethorpe Oct 2020 #36
You make an excellent point about precinct size LeftInTX Oct 2020 #51
We have to go to a Church to vote, with schools on every corner Greybnk48 Oct 2020 #42
We can vote at any voting center in the county Retrograde Oct 2020 #54
Someone's garage..LOL LeftInTX Oct 2020 #58
IIRC, we had punch cards Retrograde Oct 2020 #61
My parents always voted by mail (absentee) LeftInTX Oct 2020 #43
Unless you close them schools can't be used as polling places anymore dsc Oct 2020 #44
We still vote at schools where I live. LeftInTX Oct 2020 #52
Do your kids get election day off dsc Oct 2020 #55
No..schools are open LeftInTX Oct 2020 #57
that surprises me dsc Oct 2020 #59
population was much lower then as well Amishman Oct 2020 #45
I waited for hours to vote on one of those machines on Election Day 1980 LeftInTX Oct 2020 #56
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